Earn Your Happy Ending
by flairina
Summary: It's not over. It won't be over until you get your happy ending. And you will walk through hell and back to get there.
1. Chapter 1

A portrait of a sleeping man in a tattered coat hangs in front of me.

I know this man… I KNOW him… but how…

It's no use. I can't remember.

I guess I better head back to my parents…

**Forgotten Portrait- END**

iIiIi

Darkness.

Where am I?

Wait… that picture… Garry? How did I forget him?

Oh no… was he left behind in that horrible place when I left the gallery?… I have to go back for him! I can't just…

Wait… but where…

I open my eyes.

A word I do not recognize floats before me in bright white lettering.

"Would you like to save your friend?" a voice coming from seemingly everywhere asks me.

"…Yes…"

BBbBb

I open my eyes.

I am in the backseat of a car. Mama and Papa are in the front. Mama says we're going to-

We're going back to the gallery again?

Does that mean... I can save Garry?

Whoever you are…

Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

The art gallery again… I hate this place. But I'm sure Garry hates it too. Hopefully his picture is still…

Garry?

Garry? Talk to me…

How did you get out?

Are you okay?

Garry, why won't you talk to me?

…Do you hate me for leaving you behind?

I'm sorry…

Garry, I'm sorry…

Garry, please forgive me…

At least say SOMETHING…

WHY WON'T YOU TALK TO ME?!

Garry…

gGgGg

I find myself in front of the long portrait once again.

Garry… I don't understand… why?

Wait… did the lights just flicker? Oh no…

The power… it's… no no no no NO NO NO NO NO NO

Not again… please, not again…


	3. Chapter 3

The exit won't open. None of the windows are locked but for some reason I can't open them. One of them somehow cracked, and another got covered in blood when I looked at it. I can hear footsteps from somewhere but there's nobody here. I'm almost certain one of the pictures behind me just coughed.

I'm not getting out of here unless I go through that place again… am I?

I return to the long painting. Just like before, blue liquid is dripping from the bottom.

It's even the same message as before… and there's the "COME IB" message that was splattered all over the floor…

I guess I don't have a choice…

oOoOo

The surface of the water ripples as I stare into its depths.

Is there even a point? Garry won't talk to me any more, if he's even down there. Mary is dead. All that awaits me down there are statues without heads, hands coming from the walls, ladies trying to escape from their portraits… Maybe I should just curl up on the floor and die.

No… I made it through before, I can't just give up now.

I take a deep breath and descend into the abyss.

bBbBb

It's exactly how I remember it. There's the red rose… my red rose. How did it get back here?

Here's the key, and the picture whose face changes… I can read the message now, thanks to Garry. This rose and I are linked… I should keep this watered.

It's all the same… the hallway is even saying I'm a thief again. And here's the halls with the talking ant and the shadowy hands… is everything identical to how it was before? The ant's picture isn't torn, and is hanging on the wall again…

"oh, that's my painting! it's just as cool as i remembered it!"

You said the same thing last time. Do you not remember me?

I use the picture to cross the gap again. Just like before, it changes as I walk upon it. Perhaps this place reset to how it was before I entered last time?

If things are like before, then that statue will come after me after I pick up this key…

Just as I thought would happen, as I pick up the key the headless figure begins to move towards me. I run back over the ant's painting, tearing a hole in it and trapping the statue on the other side.

Yes…

Everything is exactly as it was before.


	4. Chapter 4

I wonder how this place somehow reset itself? Or… perhaps time ITSELF reset?

The long picture did say all my time here would be lost when I jumped back through it…

At least I know how to get past everything here without getting hurt. And I'm not surprised or scared by everything now. I already know which tile to pry loose, which doll will fall, and to leave the mouth on the wall alone…

The lying shadows have killed the only truthful one again. They all carry weapons. Even knowing what I know now, I couldn't help the only one who helped me…

I enter the room filled with trees again. There's the apple…

Strange, even though I haven't eaten anything since arriving at the gallery the first time around, I'm not even a bit hungry. Then again, this is hardly the time or place to worry about eating…

I feed the apple to the wall and pass through the mouth. It makes me think- perhaps I am dead already, and this place ate or killed me long ago. I've heard dying people sometimes see things that aren't there. Maybe all of this is just in my head, seconds before my death…

I should give this place a name… the artwork's name was "The Abyss of the Deep", so I'll call it "The Abyss". I wish I knew what abyss meant, but Garry never told me…

A huge blade descends from the ceiling attempting to slice me in half. I simply stop in front of it before it can hit me and slip underneath as it slowly retracts upwards.

The red hallway is laid out before me again. The first red lady should be in the next room. I'm glad they aren't very fast.

Wait… is that an opening into the wall? I didn't notice this last time.

It's pitch black inside, but I make it through in a few moments. A painting of people under a purple sky, raising their arms to a black tree stands before me. I can't read the entire name.

There's nothing I can do here. I should move on.

aAaAa

There's the red and blue statues, the stabbed and missing heart… and of course, the Lady in Red. I know you can move. You won't scare me this time.

…Why won't you move? I know you hide a key behind your frame. I'm ready for you- attack me.

She still won't move. I approach the portrait. This is probably a trap.

Even only a foot away, she still will not move. Her eyes glow red, and she looks just like before, but she won't move. I warily attempt to lift the frame off the wall, but discover that, impossibly, it is seemingly stuck in place.

This is bad. If she won't move off the wall and I can't lift her painting, then I can't go any further. What did I do different?!

Maybe… the painting in the U-shaped hallway! I should go check-

A thump sounds from behind me. I spin around to see a growling woman dressed in red on the floor, halfway out of her portrait and using her hands to drag herself towards me with alarming quickness.

Oh. I guess she was just waiting for me to turn my back on her.

Spying the red key on the floor, I make a quick dash for it. The lady tries to grab my leg as I pass by, but I manage to grab the key and run before she can get hold of me. I run as fast as I can for the red door and unlock it before running inside and slamming the door behind me. Loud thumps issue from the other side as I back away, trembling. Even though I know what is coming, I am scared.

Seeking to leave this room as quickly as possible, I ignore the bloody storybook and push the other book on the shelf in. The next door opens for me and I emerge to the relaxing sight of a blue vase.

In a sudden flash of memory, I remember that this was where I first met Garry last time. The thought depresses me, but also brings me to an alarming realization- last time, a statue blocked the way ahead. I'm not strong enough to move it, and there aren't any other exits. Without Garry here, I can't escape…

This can't be the end… can it? Maybe there's no statue this time…

Wait, is that?…

Garry?

That's not... he can't be back here again. I saw him back at the gallery, I KNOW it was him, even though he wouldn't talk to me…

Or maybe... he was reset along with The Abyss... but does he remember me at all then? I remember everything, even though I don't really want too...

He's not moving, and just like the first time I met him he's holding a key. But the first time I found him asleep, it was because... if he's like this…

The Blue Lady still has his rose.


	5. Chapter 5

Note: Hehe, this is definitely not my best work, even compared to what little writing I've put up before. Trying to keep it in words Ib probably knows is difficult; in fact I'm pretty sure that it's because I'm trying to keep this feasibly from her perspective that's causing the problem. I obviously have no idea how to convincingly write a ten year old girl's experiences going through this sort of hellish place. But then again, I'm writing this for fun, so I'm not going to worry about that too much. Also, let's just assume Ib has at least basic understanding of the concepts of death and time travel. My ten year old brother certainly understands the former (if not what it truly MEANS), and he has enough knowledge of the latter to explain it, so I'll assume Ib does too.

I suppose it should have been obvious that if time has gone backwards that Garry's rose is still stolen. But the Blue Lady was tearing off petals last time… I better hurry.

I wrench the key from Garry's hand and sprint off down the hallway. Before I know it the blue door is unlocking and a savage looking half-lady sits in front of me, ravenously tearing the petals from what I know to be Garry's rose.

"Hey!"

She looks up, dropping the rose in favor of coming after me. I make a mad dash for the rose but she blocks me completely. How did I do this before? I try again but am once again scratched. Ow… I can feel tears forming. There's no way I can get the rose right now. I have to run before she hurts me again and my rose dies completely.

I run back outside and slam the door in the portrait's face. I better water my- wait, is that thumping noise coming from-

The Blue Lady bursts through the window as I suddenly remember what happened last time. I run back inside again before she can do anything and shut the door on her. I can hear her clawing at the door from outside… better grab that rose.

I retrieve Garry's rose from the floor. It's mangled, but there are still some petals left, which is enough to survive in this weird art world, at least. But I need to water both his and my rose… luckily there's a blue vase nearby. If I can just get the Blue Lady away from the door...

I take a peek out the broken window. She's just… sitting, now. She looks almost frozen. Odd, but now's my chance!

I open the door again and take off like a rocket, leaving the mad portrait far behind. Thank goodness…

There's the vase that brings flowers back to life. I'll fix Garry's first, and then mine.

The second the flowers hit the water their petals bloom back into existence. This would be odd anywhere besides The Abyss, but I've long since gotten used to at least that part of this place. Time to go see if Garry is still alright. Even if his flower is okay I need to know for sure… but will he remember me?

Sure enough, as I walk back to the hallway Garry is already groaning and waking up. I kneel beside him and present him with his rose, but as soon as he sees me he backs away and cries out. Looks like he doesn't remember me... but at least he's alive, and not a portrait. Although I still don't know why he wouldn't talk to me… if he doesn't remember me then he can't be angry…

"Hey, um, little girl? You okay? You spaced out there for a moment."

Looks like he figured out I'm also from the gallery while I was thinking. He takes his rose from my hand and smiles. It's good to see him smile again…

"Can you talk?"

"…yes."

"Oh, good. I'm Garry, what's your name?"

"…I'm Ib. It's nice to…"

I trail off, tears forming in my eyes again.

"…I'm sorry, I didn't catch tha-"

He cuts himself off, noticing my oncoming tears and kneeling down to my level.

"Hey, what's wrong? I know this is a scary place, but I'm sure we can get ou-"

I cut him off with the hardest hug I can give before breaking down in tears on his shoulder. He's started whispering that everything will be alright to me… He thinks I'm crying because I'm scared of this place, but he's wrong. I'm not scared of dying, or being hurt. I'm scared of letting HIM die again… I won't kill him again, because it WAS my fault, and I…

I won't be a murderer this time. I'll make sure Garry lives, no matter what it takes.


End file.
